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Military and Veterans Research and Resources at The National Archives

Military and Veterans Records at the National Archives

Military records can be valuable resources in personal and genealogical research. We are the official repository for records of the U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard and other government agencies. These records include:

Note that most military records, including veteran's military service records, are
not online. There are casualty reports, photos and other selected military records available in our collection of
Online Documents for Veterans.

Research on Veterans in Military Records

There is no simple explanation for how to begin research on veterans. Your path will depend on whether your research is personal, genealogical or historical in nature; and on aspects of the veteran's service such as: which branch of service, which conflict, what dates, whether Regular Army or a volunteer unit, whether they were an officer or enlisted personnel, and whether there was a pension application.

Research in Military Service Records
Military service records are the primary source of information on individual veterans. These include Official Military Personnel Files (OMPFs) for recent veterans, and compiled service records and pension files for older veterans.

Research in General Military Records

Other military records such as after-action reports, ship deck logs, and
unit reports, rosters and histories may also be of interest, but it is generally very difficult to locate information on individual veterans in these records.